Dear friends,
Hope you are getting a breather after the semester!
For those who graduated, we’re soon going to change your Shabbos House status to alumni – aside for those staying on next year who will still get the more frequent weekly student emails. For alumni we send less frequent emails but do still try to keep in touch and stay connected.
Thanks to Chani and Sara for posting 4 beautiful end of semester photo albums (on FB) including Grad Party (114 photos), Midnight Breakfast (29 photos), Lag B’Omer Firepit (28 photos) and Graduation Weekend (46 photos). There’s a ton of beautiful photos, browse them all and enjoy yours. We will also later share the Memories Slideshow shown at Grad Party.
We’re excited for an alumni wedding this Sunday and for Sam and Ariana’s wedding at the start of June. May we celebrate many Simchas, share good news, joyous occasions and happy milestones.
This Shabbat 5/19-20 will be our first Cozy-Shabbat of the summer season. Candlelighting in Albany is 7:57pm. We’re doing Shabbat dinner 8pm and we’ll do Shabbat Lunch at 1pm. Shabbat ends 9:06pm in Albany. We should be here for most or all the Shabbat weekends in June, stay tuned.
Please let us know if you will be up here this summer, so we can be in touch about Cozy-Shabbat and occasionals BBQs and such.
The Shavuot holiday is this coming week, Thursday night 5/25 through Sat evening 5/27. Many Shuls and Chabads have late night study on Thursday night and there’s the reading of the 10 Commandments on Thursday morning. Most Shuls will have a dairy Kiddush. Many Chabads have ice-cream parties and special late-day Torah readings as well. This is the holiday when we celebrate the Giving of the Torah at Sinai and eat dairy foods. It’s a really good thing if you can hear the 10 Commandments read on Thursday, first day of Shavuot. For some Shavuot enrichment browse Chabad.org or download the Shavuot “Archways” booklet we published for Shavuot in Covid.
Some of our start of summer plans: Bassie graduates High School on June 18th if anyone is around, she’s the sole 12th grader – so she’s valedictorian by default and by merit! The school’s annual dinner is Wednesday May 31st after Shavuot and Memorial Day – and we cater that and get the journal/yearbook ready for print, so keeping busy with that this week and early next. Raizy attends her Chabad on Campus Womens Conference in Woodcliff Lake NJ on June 5-7 and Mendel goes to his conference June 19-21 in same hotel. After some medical tests last week, Mendel has to do some serious work on his vocal chord issue and we’re devoting energy and focus to do a bunch of things get that better!
If you know of incoming freshmen please have them be in touch with us, especially if we can help them with housing preferences or other needs. We plan to be at all or most of the Connection Days welcoming in and acclimating the new class.
Wishing you all a good Shabbos wherever you are, have a great start to summer and a wonderful Shavuot! Looking forward to hearing good things!
Love,
Mendel and Raizy